Xbox 360 has disc reading problems

**Vindigo** · February 26, 2011, 02:33 PM

I've had this for many months: my 360 will never read a disc right away. It takes 10-30 minutes of 'open tray-close tray' to get it to work. Depends on the game too, some are harder to read than others. Often it reads the disc the wrong way or something, it cannot start the game or it reads as a DVD or even a CD. And installing games - well, I don't even want to recount what I had to do to install Black Ops. What are the possible causes and what can I do about it?

**PoleCat** · February 26, 2011, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by Vindigo

I've had this for many months: my 360 will never read a disc right away. It takes 10-30 minutes of 'open tray-close tray' to get it to work. Depends on the game too, some are harder to read than others. Often it reads the disc the wrong way or something, it cannot start the game or it reads as a DVD or even a CD. And installing games - well, I don't even want to recount what I had to do to install Black Ops. What are the possible causes and what can I do about it?

Have you tried buying a cheap disc cleaning kit at a tech store? It's usually a specialized disc with brushes that are designed to brush the laser lens - the idea is to clean the dust or whatever off of the lens directly. These are hit-or-miss usually though.

Another possibility is drive failure. That's the other extreme from a simple dirty lens and would require talking to XBox Support as you'd have to send it in for replacement - expect to be charged a hefty fee if you're not still under warranty.

The third possibility - how hard on your discs are you? Do they have a lot of scratches? Do you occasionally use them as drink coasters or Frisbees?

Lastly - have you fully upgraded that box? I won't own one as I think they're glorified toys but I'm relatively sure that MS releases firmware upgrades for them on their network. Good luck!

**Vindigo** · February 26, 2011, 04:54 PM

Thanks a lot for the response, I have tried an old lens cleaner disc, didn't notice any significant improvement. My discs are fine, they're always either in their case or in the system, don't really have a chance to get scratched. It's probably another case of shoddy hardware. I swear, every console I've had since the Playstation 2 with its infamous Disc Read Error has had some kind of disc reading problem.

**PoleCat** · February 26, 2011, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by Vindigo

Thanks a lot for the response, I have tried an old lens cleaner disc, didn't notice any significant improvement. My discs are fine, they're always either in their case or in the system, don't really have a chance to get scratched. It's probably another case of shoddy hardware. I swear, every console I've had since the Playstation 2 with its infamous Disc Read Error has had some kind of disc reading problem.

Well, these consoles are built to the lowest possible cost factor as possible. MS, Sony and Nintendo aren't making money off the consoles but off the game licenses.

Sorry, not much else I can tell you. Good luck!

**SonOfCrusader76** · February 28, 2011, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by Vindigo

I've had this for many months: my 360 will never read a disc right away. It takes 10-30 minutes of 'open tray-close tray' to get it to work. Depends on the game too, some are harder to read than others. Often it reads the disc the wrong way or something, it cannot start the game or it reads as a DVD or even a CD. And installing games - well, I don't even want to recount what I had to do to install Black Ops. What are the possible causes and what can I do about it?

I know a lot of people keep their discs in the drive - do you do that? I've heard it's not very good for the discs or the drive.

**ROFL Copter** · February 28, 2011, 09:20 PM

The easiest solution is to throw it out the window and play games on PC...

**irishron** · February 28, 2011, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by ROFL Copter

The easiest solution is to throw it out the window and play games on PC...

You'll never convince some I know. Xbox preference of choice.

**SonOfCrusader76** · March 01, 2011, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by ROFL Copter

The easiest solution is to throw it out the window and play games on PC...

I'm as diehard a PC fan as they come, but the fact is some games are not available on PC and probably never will be - games like Fight Night and the main WWE games, as well as many others.

**SonOfCrusader76** · March 01, 2011, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by Vindigo

I've had this for many months: my 360 will never read a disc right away. It takes 10-30 minutes of 'open tray-close tray' to get it to work. Depends on the game too, some are harder to read than others. Often it reads the disc the wrong way or something, it cannot start the game or it reads as a DVD or even a CD. And installing games - well, I don't even want to recount what I had to do to install Black Ops. What are the possible causes and what can I do about it?

I don't suppose it's still in warranty?

Thanks a lot for the response, I have tried an old lens cleaner disc, didn't notice any significant improvement. My discs are fine, they're always either in their case or in the system, don't really have a chance to get scratched. It's probably another case of shoddy hardware. I swear, every console I've had since the Playstation 2 with its infamous Disc Read Error has had some kind of disc reading problem.

Which is why they only come with a one year warranty - they have no confidence in their product. My Corsair PSU came with a warranty of five years - consoles should have at least two years in my view.

As I said before though, don't keep them in the drive when the machine is off, also don't move the unit when it's on and there's a disc in the drive, make sure you keep them in their cases when not in use instead of scattered around the room picking up dust and scratches and don't be too hard on the drive tray when inserting or removing discs.

**Peteriscoolz** · March 01, 2011, 11:38 AM

Take out the disc and put in a new one then put the old one back in.

**PoleCat** · March 01, 2011, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by Peteriscoolz

Take out the disc and put in a new one then put the old one back in.

On any PC system that's usually a sign the drive is failing.

Question - how difficult is it to crack open an Xbox? And would it be possible to just buy a PnP optical drive off the shelf and make a DIY replacement? In theory it seems possible - in practice it may be impossible.

**Doono** · March 01, 2011, 01:18 PM

It's possible to buy a replacment dvd drive either a hitachi or samsung depending on the one installed in your xbox, you will however have to flash the drive with the firmware currently on the malfunctioning drive to make it work, it requires a bit of reading up on and if the console is in warranty it will certainly invalidate it. I would post links however the websites that explain the procedure often contain details that will not be discussed here.